In the Wake
by garden-gnome3580
Summary: When a high school class comes to take a tour of the morgue and Tru is asked for help by one of the bodies, a young girl is swept back in her wake during the rewind. Is it pure coincidence, or is there something about the girl?
1. Gloomy Morning

BEEP BEEP BEEP! The harsh tone of the alarm clock knocked Tru out of her dreams and into reality. She had been with Luc, in her dream that is, and now the cold blue-gray early morning light coming through her bedroom window reminded her of the sky on the day of his funeral. He was gone. Soon Lindsay would be gone too. Off to England with her new husband. Meredith, having been caught last month with drugs in her possession was finally in rehab and for the first few weeks, wasn't supposed to have contact with the outside world, even family. And Tru had the sense of being off balance without her older sister around. Ugh! The unfairness! Tru sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and punched her pillow. Why was life taking **_everything_** from her?There was a knock at the door.

"Hey Sis, open up!"

Everything except Harrison. He was always there to ask for money, mess up her apartment, and things like that. But he was a constant in her life, and he was her little brother. She loved him and he still needed looking after, someone to keep him reasonably on track. She dragged across her apartment and opened the door. "Well, you're up early," she said.

"Hey, Tru, you're looking beautiful today."

"Harrison, I just got up, I look like crap."

"No you don't. Want me to make you some breakfast or take you out?"

"Ok, what do you want, Harry?"

"Glad you got right to that 'cause I can't cook and there is no way I could pay for pretty much anything right now."

"Yeah, well what is it?"

"You know that football game the other day? Well I bet this guy that-"

"What else is new?" she said irritably. Gambling and betting were habits of her brother's that she just couldn't stand. "I bet you lost too."

Harrison looked at his feet "There's this guy is going to kill me if I don't give him the money by today. And I don't mean that figuratively, Tru."

"Listen I have to get to work." She meant it as a diversion, but then realized that today she was supposed to be at the morgue early because a high school tour was coming that day. "Who takes kids to a morgue?" she had wondered. God knows none of them want to end up working there. Like me, she though bitterly. She handed Harrison ten twenties from a small safe where she kept her valuables and wallet when she wasn't using them.

"If you need more that, Hare, you're gonna have to get it on your own. I have to get to work" she repeated. She was now in her closet throwing on some jeans and a tee-shirt "Some high school class is having a tour."

"It's gonna scare the crap out of them. Ohhh, especially if one of those dead people starts talking to you while they're there."

"That's not going to happen, plus they'd rewind and forget about it anyway." She said, walking out of her room and grabbing her keys.

Harrison made a face and tried to look scary. "Tru...Help... me," he said, his voice scratchy as he faked choking.

Tru flipped him off and walked out the door.

"Hey, love you too!" he shouted as she walked off down the hall.


	2. Help me High School Tour

"Tru, I'm glad you're here" said Davis as she entered the door to the City Morgue.

"Hey, Davis, what's up?"

"Nothing, just trying my best to calm down. I mean, I'm not exactly good with kids...or people in general for that matter. I mean, look at me."

"Davis..."

"Why do you think I have this job in the first place? I can't give a tour."

"Davis..."

"Not to mention that high school wasn't exactly a great time for me."

"DAVIS!"

"What?"

"Calm down! It's ok. If you mess up it's not like you'll ever see them again anyway."

"Are you saying that I'm going to mess up?"

"No, no, no. Davis, just relax, you'll do fine."

She gave him a quick one armed hug and walked off. Davis blushed, but she didn't see; she was already on her way to the door because she had heard what Davis hadn't, the door open and chatter in the halls. Davis was too shocked to do anything. _She touched me!_ he thought. Davis had been smitten with Tru ever since the first day she walked into the morgue door. Of course she had absolutely no idea. _Even, if she did,_ Davis scolded himself, _she wouldn't feel the same. _Beautiful girls like Tru didn't date guys like him. Plus it could ruin their friendship and/or work relationship. But that didn't keep him from fantasizing. The sound of Tru's voice snapped him out of his daydreaming. Tru is now standing next to him and there's a group of about 20 kids and 2 teachers standing before them.

"This is Davis, my co-worker. He spends most of his time observing the corpses that are brought in and he tries to determine the cause of death. If a body is brought to the morgue, it's because the cause of death was unknown and it's our job to figure that out."

A girl raises her hand and Tru points to her.

"What's your job here?"

"I help the-" Tru stops short realizing what she almost said, "I help Davis out."

"Here," she changes the subject, "let's take a look at some of the instruments used in examining a body. The process is somewhat similar to what doctors use when checking out and operating on live patients."

After walking through the rest of the morgue, including the crypt (where Davis opened one of the compartments revealing a body causing some girls to scream and the boys to hoot), the group returned to where they had started. Tru had ended up giving most of the tour. If she ever gave an opening to Davis he'd just get tongue tied and say nothing while some kids snickered.

Right now Davis was standing next to Tru hating himself. In the halls he had spotted a tough looking muscular boy towering over a pale, red headed one with glasses and freckles. _That was me in high school_, he thought.

"When I'm talking to you, you listen or this'll have to get ugly," the bigger boy hissed, "and you don't want that now do you?"  
"Hey," Davis had called, "cut that out!"

"Or what? What do you know about living people anyway when all you do is hang out with dead ones all day, huh?"

Davis was silent, high school nightmares flooding back into his mind like they had been gathering pressure behind a door in his mind that had suddenly been opened.

"That's what I thought," said the older boy.

"Watch your back, asshole" he said over his shoulder to the red head as he stalked down the hall.

"Does anybody have any questions?" Tru asked, bringing Davis back to the present. Then all of a sudden the door opened and there came the familiar sound of rolling wheels and clinking metal. Then the cry of "Incoming! Kids, get out of the way."

"17 year old Alex Kerigan found with bullet through the head."

_So young_, thought Tru.

A scream resonated through the room. "ALEX!!! NO!"

It came from a girl who had been standing alone in the corner, but had now rushed across the room and thrown herself across the corpse. She looked to be about fifteen years old. Her long black hair covered her face. Tru hadn't really noticed her during the tour. She had been one of the few who didn't ask any questions, make rude comments, or scream at the sight of the dead body in the crypt. But she was certainly screaming now.

Tru, put her hand to her head, trying to get herself together. The noise of screaming high schoolers and shouting morgue workers filled her ears and made her dizzy. Chaos had broken out. Breathing deeply she made her way through the mass of mortified kids and teachers to the body where the black haired girl was still sobbing. Tru was about to reach out to comfort her when she saw, no, she _felt _a gaze upon her. Not the gaze of a living being either. Then..."Please...help me!" Whirring sounds engulfed her, her vision went blurry, silence, and then the alarm clock...for the second time that morning.


	3. Where to go now?

Tru leapt out of bed, no time for daydreaming now. She threw on some clothes, grabbed a bagel, and opened the door as Harrison turned down her hallway.

"Hey, Tru, you're looking beautiful today."

"I don't need this Harrison. Not again. So I'll just cut to the chase since _you _obviously won't. I'm not giving you any money"

"But-"

"No buts. Get a job, a bank loan."

"Listen, Tru there's this-"

"There's this guy this guy is going to kill you if you don't give him the money by today. And you don't mean that figuratively, I suppose."

"Hey, Tru it's like your reading my mind or something...ohhh. It's one of _those _days isn't it."

Honestly, though Tru, sometimes Harrison was so dense.

"Yes, it is, as a matter of fact and I have no time for conversation. Meet me for dinner at the diner." She said. "We'll talk about your little money problems then." She added sternly.

Tru had practically run all the way to the morgue. It was already 9:00 and she had no exact time of death. The only thing she knew about Alex Kerigan was that she was 17 and had some relation to the girl who had come to the morgue. The field trip had been coming to a conclusion at about 2:00 so Tru decided to subtract and hour or two from that time. She didn't want to miss anything.

"Tru, I'm glad you're here." Davis's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Davis, hey," she said, then after glancing around to confirm the office empty added, "It's a rewind."

"But Tru, we have kids coming today."

"I know, someone asked while they were here."

"Did anyone see?"

"If they did, they haven't seen it today, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Listen, Davis, I need you to get me on the phone with the teacher of the class coming in."

"Why?"

"One of the students knew the victim. It's the only real lead I have."

A couple minutes later, she was on the phone with a Mrs. Redlin.

"Hi, I'm Tru Davies. I work at the morgue that you and your class are coming to in a couple hours. I was just wondering if I could have a class list to...uh...make nametags for everyone."

"Sure, hold on a second...ok there's Tom Aili, Jessica Briton, Andy Desmond, Lucy Duke, Maureen Gilman, Lisa James, Natalie Kerigan..."

Tru heard nothing else the teacher said. After Mrs. Redlin finished the list, Tru thanked her politely and hung up, then made her way to the phone book. Luckily there was only one Kerigan of that spelling listed. 198 Jacobs St, read the address. Without thinking twice, Tru was out the door and on the way back home to pick up her car. She glanced at her watch as she backed out of her parking space, 9: 50, nearly a whole hour...gone.

-More coming soon. This chapter was kind of a quick one. Sorry it took so long to update, but I've been wicked busy. Please review, tell me what you want to happen, 'cause I'm not even sure yet! Thanks!


	4. Natalie

Tru pulled up in front of a rundown brick apartment building. The numbers on the building read 98 Jacob St. because the 1 in 198 and the s in Jacobs had fallen off. This area of town was not exactly the safest so Tru locked her car and headed cautiously for the stairs to the building's main entrance. Her index finger was hovering near the doorbell. She always had a certain hesitation when she was about to get herself involved in somebody's life in the way that she did.

"Looking for me?" said a voice from behind her.

Tru turned around, startled. There was the girl. Natalie, recalled Tru, that was her name. She recognized the girl's long black locks. Now they were brushed back to reveal a sad, pale face with too much eyeliner. Tru dared to meet Natalie's midnight blue eyes.

"Natalie, right?" said Tru, feeling uneasy for some reason.

"Most people call me Nat. But you're not really here for me right now. You're here about Alex."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, because, yesterday she died, or today I guess you could say."

Tru put her hand to her head. What was going on? Who was this girl?

"And how do you know _that?_" Tru wasn't exactly sure of what else to ask.

"I'd rather say, not right now. I'll tell you after we save Alex, ok? But we can't waste time now."

"We?" Tru couldn't help but ask. She didn't mean to sound unkind, but how was she supposed to save someone with a kid following her around? Not to mention the fact that she didn't always save the victims. How could she explain that to someone who looked so determined and certain that they would save her friend or whoever Alex was to her.

"Yes, we. You need me to give you the information so you can help my sister."

"So Alex is your older sister?"

"Yep, by two years," Nat replied, "Come on," she added with urgency, "We don't have all day. Come on in and we'll talk in the apartment. It's not safe to stand around out here anyway."

They walked through a dank, musty hall and up a stairwell that had the stench of urine and cigarette smoke. At the second floor they entered another hall and stopped at Apartment 5. Upon entering, Tru realized she was in an entirely different world than the rest of the building. The apartment was small, but home-like. There were potted flowers resting on the windowsill. Light lit the room's lime green walls. The apartment wasn't falling apart like the rest of the building.

Nat gestured towards a round table surrounded by three chairs. There they sat somewhat awkwardly for a moment. Looking around, Tru noticed a picture of Alex and she remembered very suddenly why she was here.

"Does Alex have any enemies?" she questioned, breaking the heavy silence with the sound of her voice.

"No, not that I can think of. If I were to guess her cause of death I would say it was because she took her own life."

"Why would she do a thing like that?"

"Because she was unhappy with her life. No, wait, that's an understatement. She _hated_ her life. Neither of us have ever been happy here, but she was miserable. It wasn't always like this, you know. At one time we lived in a nice house in the suburbs. Then mom died and that's when..." Nat paused. "When my dad's company went out of business. The only other job he was able to get involved a ton of traveling, and still doesn't pay that well. I haven't seen him in a month. Alex and I try to take care of ourselves, and this place. We did ok. Both of us did well in school. We want to get out of here some day. Then came Jeremy, he's a college guy. Alex fell head over heels for him. It was digusting. She started ditching school to be with him. Her grades dropped. No one was here to tell her what to do or set her in order. It's not like she'd listen to me. Anyway the reason I suspect suicide is that "yesterday" morning and this morning I found this in the garbage."

Natalie held up a pregnancy test. Tru looked at it carefully and realized it was positive. _Oh my god_, she thought. She had been silent, letting Nat talk, but now she spoke.

"I'm sorry about your mother. I know how you feel."

"No you don't. That's what everyone says, but they have no clue what it's like."

"Actually, I do. I lost my mother when I was twelve."

"Oh"

"Listen," said Tru, glancing at her watch. _12:00!_ "Can you tell me where Alex is now?"

"Probably school, or Jeremy's."

"School! Oh my gosh, you should be there too!" realized Tru aloud.

"I figured this was more important. Not to mention, it's not like I really missed it since I went yesterday, right?"

Tru decided to let it slide. Her head was spinning from everything she had learned. She knew she had to save Alex, but at the same time she was curious about Natalie. Was she for real? How did she know everything? How could she relive days? But there was no time for that now, she had to face the more immediate problem at hand.

"Come on, Nat."

"Where are we going."

"To find Alex."


	5. Remembering

Note: This chapter is written in Natalie's POV. Hope you like it.

We pulled up in front of my school. I hate that building. Hate it with a passion. Schoolwork has always come easy to me, but socializing hasn't. I have always been the odd one out. This world sucks. If you don't conform people act like you are an alien, like you don't exist...like you have no feelings. It's not like I have _no_ friends-I do have a couple close ones, but nobody dares to even go near us. We are the untouchables. I've always envied Alex; she's popular and seems perfect. I know the truth though, she's not always flawless. She's still my best friend, and I hope that I'm hers. Lately though, she's always with Jeremy. He's all she talks about. He's become her _life_, and now he's the reason she's about to take it away.

Tru gets out of the car. As she walks through the main doors, it looks like the building is swallowing her. I get the strangest feeling that she won't come back, that the building's locked her in. This whole day, and yesterday have all seemed like a dream to me. Everything's been weird since Mom...you know...died. I can barely seem to comprehend it in my mind, let alone say it aloud. It's not just because she's gone, but because of what she left me with. Not just a devastated Dad, sad, yet still self absorbed sister, and a family torn apart, collapsed under the weight of loss without the glue to put it back together again. No, not that, I mean _the power_. At least that's what I think it is. She told me about it when she was dying. It was lung cancer that took her. That was Mom's only flaw, she was a smoker. She was lying in the hospital bed and she called me to her. Just me. Alex and Dad were always curious and even suspicious of the fact that I was the last to see her. I remember it like it was yesterday.

"_Natalie," Mom had said to me her voice raspy and wheezing, "it is time for me to leave this world. I think you know it too." Tears had filled my eyes, and I'd squeezed them shut, feeling the warm drops slide silently down my cheeks. _

"_Mom, no!" I grabbed her hand. She took my hand in both of hers, holding it tightly. _

"_There's nothing you or I can do about it, honey. It's out of our control. But there's something that you can do in the future, to help people that aren't like me, that aren't ready to die yet."_

"_But you aren't ready to die yet," I had protested. _

_Ignoring me she had gone on, "You must fulfill your destiny. It is the custom, being the youngest daughter, that you shall receive this gift and curse rolled into one."_

"_What are you talking about?" I figured my mother had gone mad in her state between life and death._

"_You'll soon figure it out for yourself. There's only so much I can tell you now in the time that I have. If only I had known how serious this would get, I would have told you much sooner. It is your destiny, your calling, to save people, as it was once mine. In time your ability will gather strength, you must learn as you go. I tell you now as my mother told me. It will be hard at times, but you must not ignore what you are meant to be, what you will become." _

"_Mom, please, what do you mean? What is this? You can't be serious!"_

_But the look on her face had confirmed that she most definitely was. _

_"I can't hold on any longer, my beautiful girl," she said, her voice a whisper, "I love you very much. Tell your father and sister that I love them too. That I will miss them, wherever I'm going." _

_I had sat there, a look of utter despair and helplessness on my face. "No mom, no! No!" _

"_Shhhh, baby, she said. I leaned down and let her stroke my hair. "Don't forget what I have told you. Don't deny who you are and what is meant to be..."_

_Then, as she exhaled, her very last breath, I felt the most tremendous sensation. A rush of warmth and vibration. The room had seemed to spin and my vision went black for a second. _

"_Mom, what was that?"_

_Silence._

"_Mom?"_

_Silence. I looked down at her pale face. Her blue eyes held a look of love and sadness. They were unblinking._

"_Mom, please wake up!"_

_Silence._

"_Mom, NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOO!" my voice broke up in sobs. My screaming had brought in Alex and Dad who had been waiting outside the room, followed by a doctor and two nurses. The nurses tried to pry me off of my mother, who I had been clutching with all my might. _

"_Come here, dear," said someone, "you've got to let go."_

_I began kicking and yelling. "No I don't!" I'd screamed, "I'll never let go!"_

**SLAM.**

The car door tears me from the terrible memory. Tru's back. It feels like it's been hours, but it couldn't have taken her more then 10 minutes.

"She never came to school today. Oh, and I asked that you be excused from classes today. I told the school I was your babysitter, hope you don't mind."

I half smile at her, grateful. I'm still not completely sure who she is, how she does what she does, or if she can help me understand what my mother meant by "fulfilling my destiny. "

"Now, where's this Jeremy guy's house? We have to get there-and fast."

Yep, so that's another chapter. Sorry that the scene with Nat's mother dying was kind of soap opera-ish, but it just seemed to work out that way.


End file.
